I have spent hours reading up on this and not made any progress so far so need some help.

I am being given the task of converting training manuals to a digital format for use with iPads. These will be training documents with will include hundreds of pages with embedded chapter links etc, and hopefully the possibility of animated footage for simple explinations / diagrams (whole point of upgrading to digital documents).

I have read that PDF files won't work for this as the readers don't display animations... is this still correct?

If so then which format should I be building it in / converting it to so we can have it loaded onto staff iPads for them to view.. I have heard the possibility of HTML may work and have full use of page interactivity for hyperlinks and animation files?

As I understand it I will need to download "folio Tools" for InDesign, then create a .folio document which will have interactive elements etc for the iPad. I will then have to buy a licence of DPS, and all that DPS does is publish the .folio to the App store and make it available for download by the public?.. Obvioulsy this will be a comfidential training file so we won't want it distributed openly.

If we wanted only our staff to have the .folio training document then we would just send them the .folio file and make sure they have adove content viewer installed on the iPads and then they will be able to be viewed perfectly?!... (in theory?)

So using the DPS I would create an IPA file which is an app. We will have our own distribution channel in theory, so then I just have to put the .IPA file onto the Ipads we need and they will be able to view it???.....

There is a sort of 'way in between'. On a ios developer account you can add different iPads with there unique serial, I believe a maximum of 99? You could, in theory, attach each iPad and copy the .ipa on them you have downloaded from the builder (the 'test' ipa you otherwise would upload to Apple). But far more easy would be making a special Adobe ID where everyone can log into with their iPad in Adobe Content Viewer. But here is also a maximum around 99 I believe.

If you need 'private' distribution (so not through thevApp Store) the very, very, very expensive enterprise account is the way to go.

Thanks for the replies. It all seems a bit OTT when all I really need is an interactive PDF ... People have been saying about using HTML to build an interactive document... will that still need to be turned into an App to run or can it be viewed like a webpage?...

Thanks George. We probably are able to purchase and mandate a PDF Viewer yes. Basically the company I work for has won a contract to digitise training material for a very large corporation. So a straight digital copy would be a basic PDF to be used on Ipads. They then want to advance the training document by adding in some videos / animations in place of static pictures of the original training document as this will help explain things better. These can be in any format such as SWF etc and will be simble flash/after effects stuf with arrows etc.

My company will be managing the Symatec App Center for this client which allows employees to view and download specific applications and content which we choose. Our Clients IT staff will then oversee the transfer of data from this app center onto their employees devices.

So all I am trying to work out is the best way to create content which I can upload onto our personally Managed App Center. And that content just needs to be a glorified PDF in essence as it will never be publicly available outside of my clients workforce.

You should look into Readdle's PDF Expert. I know it supports mp4 videos included as RMAs (Rich Media Annotation) in a PDF. You may have to convert your current content to something that's supported, if possible.

Hello. I have been reading about html5 apps today and wondering what the immediate draw backs and advantages are?...

It seems like we can develop an html5 app which supports animations/video and interactive content on ipads etc and we can then wrap our own security etc around it and distribute it ourselves...?! Is this right?